li'ir I 








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A GLOUCESTER SKETCH-BOOK 

AND 

SOUVENIR 



Lou IS C. El-SON. 




PRINTERS. PUBLISHERS, BOOKSELLERS A^ 

STATIONERS 

108-110 MAIN ST., "old CORNER" 

GLOUCESTER. MASS. 






LIBRARY o( CONGRESS 

Two OiHilM Received 

MAY 23 1904 

Copyright Entry 

CLASS fitXXo. No. 

COPY B 



COPYRIGHTED 



The Procter Brothers Company (Inc 
all rights reserved. 



printed by 

The Procter Brothers Company (InoJ 

gloucester. mass. 




JX^ 



J)cs]ieatior2. 



ri ciucrp!ei»'Cer)tuFy aq© 
Xrjese rocKy sr)OP«s we ipoa. 

Y9e occar) surge, tr)e sur)sei s qleiuv. 
©eerr)ea njeseaaes Irarr) boa. 



©till ao we ppi^e our [^opaclise 
c/u s wr)er) ®up l®ys Leqar). 
^rr)acr)ep slill epes r)ep siappy eyes, 
tJi) jtJpace s I\ocl<i }r)e opeal^eps pise 
JOeyer)a sleeps iT;afr)ep «/ir)r). 



jcSuf as fr)e Bells of rrjerrjopy or)iir)e 
1 lell fr)e lale ar)ew. 
l\oses of rr)ar)y a ©urr)iT)ep--iin^e, 
Kapqet--rr)e--r)ois ir) prose ar)a Fr)yir)e, 
1 oir)a }l)err) r)ere fop y®u. 



=DCr 




^ 



CONTENTS 
Dedication. 

Gloucestek, ..... 

A Sketch of Gloucester, - . . . 

Unia^ersalism in Gloucester, 
Thacher's Lights, . - . . . 

Mother Ann, ..... 

Amateur Fisiiino vs. Professional, 
The Wrkck of the Hesperus, 



1 
3 

15 
16 
17 
18 
20 



=ixr^ 



JX^ 



LIST OF VIEWS. 



Gloucester from East Gloucester, Sho\ving Inner 
Harbor. 

Gloucester from City Hall Tower (South), Showing 
Outer Harbor. 

Gloucester from Stage Fort, Showing Pavilion 
Beach. 

A Bit of Gloucester Harbor, Showing Fishing 
Schooner. 

Oldest Universalist Church in America. Unitarian 
Churcli and Sawyer Library. Procter Building 
—"Old Corner."" City Hall. High School. 

Surf and TJocks Xear Bass Rocks. 

Eastern Point Light and Mother Ann. 

Eastern Point Light. Cape Aim Lights, Thacher's 
Island. Ten Pound Island and Light. Straits- 
mouth Island and Light, Rockport. Annisquam 
Light. 

Hawthorne Inn and Cottages, East Gloucester. 




Old Mother Ann, East Gloucester. 

Surf Xear Brace's Rock, East Gloucester. 

Bass Rocks, East Gloucester, with Judge Sher- 
man's Cottage. 

Fishmg Schooner on Georges. 

Granite Quarry at Rockport. 

Long Beach, Rockport. 

Tree in Rock, Rockport Road. 

Pigeon Cove and Shore. 

Annisquam Point and Bridge. 

AVillow Road, Iliverdale. 

Magnolia Point (East), with Beach, Hotels, etc. 

Norman's "Woe, Magnolia. 

Shore View from Rate's Chasm, Showing Magnolia 
Point. 

Rate's Chasm, Magnolia. 

Wingaersheek Beach, ^Vest Gloucestei'. 

View from AVilloughby Park, West Gloucester. 




GLOUCESTER FROM EAST GLOUCESTER. SHOWING INNER HARBOR. 



& 



GLOUCESTER. 



V/^ 



DUIS C. ELSON. 



Amid thesi- <\v( 


fps of 


s)i"r.' and sky, 


Ofsli:i.|r.i I:,i 
And rn.ks il,:it 


e .-ilid 
lik.-.l 


ipl:iiHl free. 
ad I'linnsUe, 


And ^hIltln^ 


nrlr.u 


sdi thr sea, 



It is but rit;lit tUat one slionkl give 
Homage from [lencil oi- from lips. 

For here in weird sea-change we live, 
Our fancies sailing with tue ships. 

Out in the sunset's fiery glow. 

Out in the mist of stormy wrack. 
'Twixt Eastern Point and Norman's Woe 

They follow in the vessel's track. 

To tar-ofl Breton's stormy coast. 
To rocky capes of Labrador, 

The schooners go, a whitewinged host- 
Will they retm-n again to shore? 



Newfoundl.'ind's winds are fierce and wild, 
The white fog oft a funeral pall 

That c'.utains from the wife and child 
The man that wms the bread for all. 

Oh Seal guard well the freight you bear! 

.\mong the lines and nets and darts 
Are tangleil Longing and Despair 

And many weary home-kept hearts. 

Deep in the night I hear a cry, 
A strange, hard tone, beset with fear; 

Each pull of wind, a widow's sigh. 
Each drop of spray, an orphan's tear. 

But every life 's a ship at sea. 

And soon the winds of night are blown; 
ttld Mother stern: your children free 

Sing not a mournful minor tone. 




Gloucester is fair, yes wondrous fair. 
For artist's l)rush or poet's pen ; 

Yet still its wealth beyond compare 
Is in its race of sturdy men! 

1 





GLOUCESTER rK.ifvl ., T, HALL. TOWER SOUTH SHOWING OUTER HARBOR. 




o o 

A SKETCH OF GLOUCESTER. 



IN Old England there existed, and still exists, a 
(luaint and picturesque cathedral town which 
the old Saxons used to call "Gleucestre," from 
the ancient words meaning the "Castle of Glaw," 
but I prefer to believe that the name arose from an 
older British phrase, " Glaw Caer," i.e., " The beau- 
tiful City." If the old English town deserved this 
name, still more does the American city by the sea 
seem worthy of such an appellation. But it was 
not always called thus; it had as many different 



names, before the Plymouth settlers came here, as 
a Spanish princess royal. 

When Champlain came here in 1G05 he called it 
" Cap aux Isles," because he saw the islands now 
called Straitsmouth, Thatcher's and Milk Island; 
and lie called the harbor "le Beauport," and the 
beautiful bay well des(>rved the compliment. Sub- 
sequently, in 1014, that roving bearer of a numer- 
ous name, John Suiitli, saw these same islands, and 
desii'ous of giving the world an object lesson in his 



L-KJ 




=JXL 




biography, he called them the "Three Turks' 
Heads" iu memory of three Mussulmen whom he 
had shortened by a few inches in single combat. 
Tlien he named the cape back of them " Tragabig- 
zanda" to commemorate the fact that he had won 
the heart of the Princess of Trebizonda, a combi- 
nation of heads and heart that was not altogether 
commendable. A few of the settlers fondly be- 
lieved that "Tragabigzanda" was the Indian name 
of tlie locality, but it is abundantly proved that the 
aborigines named the cape " Wingaersheek," a 
name still perpetuated by the beautiful beach 
shown in the next to last picture in this book. Then 
came Prince Chai-les and wiped out the entii-o pro- 
ceedings, calling the spot "Cape Anne" in honor 
of his mother, Anne of Denmark, and so it remains 
to this day. The Indians probably found the place 




too bleak for comfort, and seem never to have had 
a permanent settlement here, although vast piles 
of clam shells still attest that they periodically 
came to Annisquam (see picture), to Russ' Island 
and to Wingaersheek Beach. There were other 
voyagers who came to these shores after Capt. John 
Smith's day, but I need not dwell upon Gosnold 
and Pring and Thomas Morton of " Merrymount," 
and the men from Dorchester who tried to found a 
fisliing station here and failed, Mr. White at the 
close of the attempt commenting on the " ill-choice 
of the place for fishing"! that same place being 
now the largest fishing port in the world. 

In 1(142, in the month of May, there came a set 
of determined men from Plymouth, and the gener- 
al court granted them " a plantation " here, which, 
as manv of the men had come from the English 



iS 



<J 



£KL 



rJ 



city, was i-alU'il "GloucesttM-." IIciw stunlily Am.n-- 
iciui the city h, maybe seen from the facctliat tlie 
descendants oC the origuial settlers still are the 
most prominent citizens. The names of Parsons, 
Sargent, Couant, Brown, Da}% Wonson, Baiisun 
(the historian of Gloucester is John J. Babsoui, 
Bray, Tarr, Haskell, Eveleth, Robinson, Stevens, 
Somes, Rowe, Coffin, Witham, and others, may bo 
foiuid prominent to-day as centuries ago in the city 
records. But there is a certain preponderance of 
these families now, and the stranger is safe in call- 
ing everybody "Tarr," and if that fails, addressing 
him as " Wonson." It was a mystoviiuis, i>ut of the 
way plantation in the 17th century, and one can 
read in an early account of the jilace that "lions 
have been seen at Cape Anne," a remarkable fact 
which I recommend to zooloLjists, who must not for- 



get, hiuvevi't. that New England rum was sold "at 
Cape .Vnue " at the same epoch. The names of the 
localities on the Cape have changed as little as 
the names of the residents. In the harbor are 
"Five-pound Island" and "Ten-pound Island," 
and there they were in liU4, for Wm. Vinson re- 
ceived a grant of the flrst then, and the second was 
set ajiart for the i>asturing of ruAns, the ancient 
Glosterian believing in the poetical injimi-tion — 
" Butt me no butts "! 

Thacher's Island was called so from ItiS."., al- 
though then it received the name of "Thacher's 
Woe" (see subsequentpoem) for Anthony Thacher's 
ship went down Aug. 1-1 in that ye.ar on Crack- 
wood's Ledge, and all his children were drowned, 
as well as the entire family of Rev. John Avery 
(commemorated by Avery's Rock 




^ 




and all the crew. Nor was this the onlj' " woe " on 
tlie cape, for just across Gloucester Harbor (iu 
the old days this was called part of the cape) is 
'•Xorman's Woe," a most dangerous reef, whose 
name puzzles the historian. It is a fact that a 
certain Richard Xorman dwelt in Essex before 1082, 
and that ho departed on a voyage from which he 
never returned, but it is not quite certam that he 
was shipwrecked on this reef. There have been, 
however, enough wrecks there to justify Longfel- 
low's i)oeni. 

Tlic " cut " or canal, whicli unites Massachusetts 
and Ipswich bays, is almost as old as the town of 
Gloucester which was made thereby into what Mrs. 
Malaprop would call a "dissolute island," a name 
wliich, unfoitunately, is somewhat applicable in 
modei-n times. But the antiquarian may find the 



largest number of relics of the olden days towards 
Annisquam, and onRuss' Island he may discern re- 
mains of the old colonial road to Boston. The late 
Mr. E. M. Chamberlain often took me to the traces 
of this road and we even discovei-ed the cellar hole 
of the old tavern which at one time furnished the 
weary colonial traveller with spirituous comfort. 
One odd relic of this road is a gate in a fence, far 
away from any house; this gate is required to be 
" kept open forever," for the convenience of trav- 
ellers to the city; the -road is gone, but the gate 
and the legal restriction remains. 

I fancy that the old cellar could tell many tales 
of revelry if it could speak, for those were the days 
of hard drinking, when the Gloucester citizens were 
obliged to curb the expenses of their selectmen in 
the matter of punches and grog, the days when 



:ff0y^^^^- 




GLOUCESTER FROM STAGE FORT. SHOWING PAVILION BEA_H. 



JXL 



every schooner was baptized by breakiiij; a bottle 
of rum over t!ie bows at the launching. And this 
city was the birthplace of the scliooner, too, for 
. ^ when the new-rigged craft, which Capt. Andrew 
^1 Eobinson had built in 1713, was launched, a by- 
stander cried, "Oh! how she schoona! " (schooning 
being to skip along as a flat stone skimnied on the 
surface of the water) and the captain accepted the 
name of "schooner" as a good omen for his new 
boat, and by this name all of her successors have 
gone. 

Of course the old plantation was a Puritan strung- 
hold at first, and Rev. Dr. Blynman. who came the 
first year from Plymouth, was of the orthodox faith, 
but there seem to have been dissensions enough, 
as indeed there were throughout the whole reli- 
gious world of Xew England in tli'> early days. 



The Puritans, while fighting Rome with cordial and 
united animosity, reserved the divine right of quar- 
relling among themselves, and jioor Dr. Blynman 
had but a sorry time of it. His successor's salary 
was i;(>0 a year, but this was to be paid in food and 
articles of produce, such as "Indian corn, pease, 
barley, tish, mackerel, beef or pork," and the jia- 
rishioners at times took sucli advantage of the trade 
that a conmiission was apiiointed to see tliat tlic 
articles given were not unlit "to pass from man to 
man." At a later period (in 1767) Rev. John Wyeth 
had a still more unpleasant experience, for the op- 
ponents to his pastorate occasionally firetl nuisket 
balls into his house because he had not the prim 
dignity which they associated with clerical com- 
portment in those formal days. A little later there 
Ijcgan here a new rreed, which was destined to 





.iXL: 




spread over a large part of the country. Rev. John 
Murray came to Gloucester in 1774, at the invita- 
tion of the Sargent family, and in their house, in 
that year, was planted the first seed of Universal- 
ism in America (see picture of oldest Universalist 
church in America— No. 5 in this book). Of course, 
in spite of a blameless and charitable life, the ran- 
cor of religious hatred reached him, and even per- 
sonal violence and mob lav? were threatened. The 
preacher who first taught the Methodist creed in 
Gloucester received a like welcome, and the tangle 
of religious quarrelling and ecclesiastical law suits 
extends from the advent of Dr. Blynnian, at the 
foundation of the town, to very recent times. 

Gloucestei', however, was not so badly tainted 
with the persecution of witches as its neighbor, 
Salem, a little further down the coast. Yet it did 




not escape the madness altogether. Abigail Somes, 
a daughter of one the early settlers, was taken to 
Boston on the awful charge, but was finally allowed 
to go. Ann Dolliver, wife of Capt. William Dolli- 
ver of Gloucester, was accused, but also escaped 
death. Witch-flnders were called to Gloucester, 
and sent four women to prison, but none of them 
were hanged. Ghosts of Frenchmen and Indians 
were sent to this city by witches, as Cotton Mather 
tells in his " Magnalia," but the most peculiar case 
of all was connected with the siege of Louisburg. 
There were several Gloucester soldiers in the victo- 
rious army of the Xorth and some of these had 
aroused the anger of old Peg Wesson before their 
departure. Just before they left this city, the old 
witch (so the story goes) told them she would have 
her vengeance on thera when they got to Louis- 



8 



y 



IS 



=ixr 




o 



burg. While they were iu camp there they ob- 
served a huge crow flying around them ; many at- 
tempts to shoot or to capture it were iu vain, wlien 
suddenly one of the men remembered the propliecy 
and decided tliat it must be Peg Wesson. He knew 
tlien that only a bullet of precious metal could 
harm the witch. He therefore took his silver sleeve 
buttons and fired tliem at the bird, which fell to 
the ground wounded. 

Now follows the marvel of it all : Peg Wesson at 
the same moment fell down in Gloucester with a 
broken leg, and when the doctors examined the 
wound, the identical sleeve buttons which had been 
fired in Louisburg dropped out. But why poor Peg 
should have acted so foolishly, or what she expect- 
ed to gain by flying around the soldiers in her bird- 
shape, the history does not tell, yet Mr. Babson 



(the historian of (Jloucester) assures us that there 
were many who firmly believed in the story even 
recently, and to that statement I can add tlie fact 
tliat I have known CHoucestor fishermen wlio tlior- 
ouglily believed in witches and nailed a horseshoe 
on the masts of their vessels as a protection against 
them. l!ut if I were to tell of the present super- 
stitions of the Clouci'ster fishermen that I have 
known, I should rcciuirc almost a volume : liere are 
a few, hiiwt'Ver: 

If you accidentally drop a rake of ice overboanl 
when preparing fur the lishing trii), you will Iiave 
good luck and a full fare. 

If you turn a hatch bottom up, or drop it into the 
hold, you will meet the direst misfortune through 
the trip, and may be glad if you see land again. 



^X? 




JXL 



If you watch a ship out of sight you will never 
see it again. 

If a man comes on the vessel with a black valise, 
he is a "Jonah "; have nothing to do with him, and 
don't let him ship with you. 

" Sunday sail, never fail, 
Friday sail, ill lucl« and gale." 

Yet the competition between the fishermen has 
now grown so keen that I have seen many a schoon- 
er start out on Friday, particularly if it happened 
to be a fair day after a long storm. The belief in 
"Jonahs," that is, unlucky people, is ineradicable 
from the fishennan's mind, and there are the 
strangest instances of ships "losing their luck" 
when certain men sailed on them, and regaining 
it when they left. One man "hoodooed" three 
schooners in this manner one year. 



Most glorious and brilliant was Gloucester's share 
in the Revolution. Before it began the people here 
were as excited as those of Boston. There was not 
a " tea-party " or a Crispus Attucks riot here, but 
the agitation had its earnest and its comical sides, 
too. Gloucester was an admirable place for smug- 
gling in those days, and of course, the inhabitants 
sympathized with any attempt to evade the pay- 
ment of duties to the crown. A schooner had ar- 
rived from abroad and had half unloaded, when the 
English authorities sent the customs officer to ap- 
praise the cargo. There was at the " Cut " a small 
watch-house which had been erected in the time of 
a smallpox scare to detain any strangers at quar- 
antine. The old watchman, John McKean, started 
at once for this station, and when the official came 
in sight he at once took him in custody, in pursu- 



^ 



U 





SURF AND ROCKS. NEAR BASS ROCKS. 



IXL 



n/ 



aiice of liis aneient orders, and, although (here had 
been no smallpox for a number of years, he gave 
liim a 10 hours' fumigatiou, and when he let him 
go there were as few foreign goods in sight as there 
were smallpox germs upon his person. 

Soon after came Bunker Hill, and two compa- 
nies of Gloucester men were in the battle, Capt. 
Warner's comjaany coming up at a nui, just in time 
to participate. But more characteristic was the 
adventure of the British sloop of war Falcon, which, 
endeavoring to land a boat at Collin's Beach to 
capture some sheep, was so tired upon by a few men 
from an ambushed position that they made a hasty 
retreat, thinking that there were 100 soldiers in am- 
bush instead of five fishermen. When, finally the 
Falcon entered Gloucester Bay and began to bom- 
bard the town, the citizens nave them so warm a 



reception that they were glad to give over the at- 
tempt. Dearon Kinsman's hog was killed in the 
bc>mbar<liiient, Imt lliere was no other serious ca- 
lamity. The bill at Trentice's tavern against the 
town that night, according to Babson, was for 13 
buckets of toddy, \\\6 suppers and two quarts of 
rum, therefore we may surmise (hat the town had 
at least a lieadache on the morning after the fight. 
The Yankee Hero had poorer luck, although it 
was maimed by Gloucester sailors. It was a priva- 
teer, and just off the Cape discovered an awkward 
merchantman which gave promise of being a good 
prize, but when they were al)out to Ijoard, the 
Americans discovered two rows of canno}! levelliag 
death at them, and were forced to surrender t" the 
British frigate Milford, whicli had been masciuer- 
adhig (o siinie purpose. In tlie War of ].si2 tliere 



LofC. 



O 



XK3= 



were Gloucester men assisting in Hull's victory, 
when the Constitution defeated the frigate Guer- 
riere. 

Even in the revolutionary times, three-fourtlis of 
Gloucester's male population were seafaring, and 
not only battles but storms took toll of the inhabi- 
tants. The great storm of Gloucester occurred 
Dec. 15, 1839 (see article connected with the picture 
of Norman's Woe — No. 22), when a fierce south- 
easter swept the bay, which is not a harbor of ref- 
uge when the wind is in that quarter, and all the 
way from Norman's Woe to Pavilion Beach, tlie 
coast was strewn with bodies and with wreckage. 
But there was a greater storm than tliis for Glouc- 
ester, although it occun-ed far away. It was a Sun- 
day in August, 187.3, that a gale swept down upon 
Cape Breton, the like of which liad never been 



known there before, and many of the Gloucester 
fishermen were victims to its fury, while in their 
own city the day was peculiarly peaceful and the 
weather fine. One must read Stedman's grand 
poem, one must see the twisted trunks still lying in 
some of the Cape Breton forests, to know of the 
" Lord's Day Gale," as it is still called. 

" On ici-f anil bar oiii- schooners drove 

R'-foiv iIh vmimL 1.. lore the swell; 

liv til.- 1 ! IK their ribswere Stove— 

l.nnt;. 1. ,s the tale shall tell! 

(If till- c I" ; I I :i it arc wrecks three score ; 

(If till- I'riuiiM.- sail iwi, huntlreil more 

Wfri' slranili-.l in iliaf frinii.-st frll. 

Til.' Ur, Itiiiif lii'lN 111 Cldurrsicr Town 

Tliat S;il.liatli iii'^hl ram; soft and clear; 

The sal:o^^• iliildrrii lai.l liain down. 

Dear l.or<l: th.'ir sw.ri (.lavrrs coiildst Thou hear? 

'Tissai.l tliai -inlly M.-w thi' whids; 

The ^(lodwive-i llirougli the seaward blinds, 

Looked down the bay and had no fear." 

Yet however many victims the sea may claim, 
there are always new ones to take their places in 



II 








EASTERN POINT LI^HT AND MOTHER ANN. 



=DQ= 



the propossion that leads lowanls the ocean grave. 
I have said tliat the city is distinctively American, 
and so it is as regards its leading and influential cit- 
izens, but the toilers of the sea are many of them 
Swedes and Portusnese. If the visitor will step into 
the post ofiice he will find many foreign letters, in a 
glass case, awaiting their claimants, some of whom 
will never more come for friendly messages. Por- 
tuguese or Swedish names are on them all, and it is 
at time.s Inunorous to notice the struggle of the 
writers to encompass the spelling of " Gloucester." 
Here are a few specimens taken during recent 
times: — 

" Glochester," "Gloseur," "Gh'sthire," "t^uip- 
ano" and "Capaiii," the last two meaning "Cape 
Ann." 

There are noble charities— or, lei us leave out the 



more debasing word and call them henefo.clions — 
now arising to help the sailore, and many summer 
visitors have helped these generoasly. 

Gloucester has had its chroniclers, too, in recent 
days: .Just as Charles Reade gave a graphic picture 
of the life of the Newhaven (Scotland) fishermen in 
his " Christie .lohnstone," so Mrs. Phelps-'Ward, and 
Messrs. Kipling and Connolly have done in books 
picturing Gloucester life. The fishermen them- 
selves think that Connolly's pictures are the most 
faithful, and, as almost every vessel mentioned in 
"Captains Courageous" has met with misfortune 
or shipwreck, they have come to regard liudyurd \/>. 
Kipling as a Jonah! ] 

Anyone moving much among Gloucester citizens i 

will be struck by their independence and fearless 
ways; there is a definite type of Gloucestrian, which 



^i)Cr 





JXL 



is more tbaa can be said of many otiier cities. After 
tlie visitor lias visited tlie beautiful natural scenes 
illustrated in this book, it would be of interest to 
study the busy and very characteristic life of the 
place. A stroll on the wharves, a look on board of 



a fishing schooner, a visit to Main St. at about 8.30 
Saturday night, and a look at the same locality on 
the eve of the Fourth of July, will connnce him 
that Gloucester Ls one of the most characteristic 
cities of America. 

Louis C. Elson. 



--; 





OUl.'sl riii\.-isali-i ( iiiiicli ill AiiiiTii'ii. riiii'liT l!iiil(iiiis;--(>lil (•iiiiK-r.' 
I'liitarian Chiinli ami S:i«yir l.ihiai v. 



Cily Hall. 
Hi^li Si-liool. 



^ 



UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA 

FIRST BEGAN IN GLOUCESTER. 



In our sketch of the history of Gloucester we 
have stated tliat tlie Rev. John Murray began 
preaching Universalism in Gloucester, in 1774. It 
is generally supposed, and sometimes printed, that 
Boston had the first church of this denomination, 
but the statement is an error. The date of Glou- 
cester's formal beginning in this creed was 1779, 
when 69 persons drew up "Articles of Association " 
as an "Independent Christian Church of Christ, 
resolved by God's grace to meet together, whether 
blessed with the public preaching of the word or 
not, to meet together to supplicate the Divine fa- 
vour, to praise our redeeming God, to hear His most 
holy word and freely to communicate whatever 
God shall please to manifest to us for our nnitual 



edification", and they further agreed to ordain as 
their minister "their christian brother, John Mur- 
ray, from a full conviction that the same God that 
sent the first preachers of Jesus Christ, and that 
the same gospel they preached, we have from time 
to time received from him." 

In 1796 (five years before the church in Boston 
was purchased according to the claims above men- 
tioned) they erected a house of worshii> at the cor- 
ner of Main and Water Streets, which was dedicat- 
ed Christmas day. 

The lot of land occupied by the present church, 
was purchased in 1805, and the present house of 
worship was erected during that and the .succeed- 
ing year and was dedicated October 9, 1806. 





-JXL 



THACHER'S LIGHTS, 




BY LOUIS C. ELSON. 



Wide, wakeful eyes that look out o'er the sea! 
They note the billows at their treach'rous play, 
They watch the fishing schooners sail away 
With sound of careless mirth and revelry. 
And gaze, foreboding, o'er the tranquil sea. 

Deep, thoughtful eyes that guard the dang'rous tidel 
The winter's spume, the summer's lazy swell. 
Pass in their turn the sleepless sentinel ; 
" The shore is granite, and the ocean wide! " 
Unceasing say the eyes that guard the tide. 



Blank, staring eyes, the vacant eyes of Death! 
The sailor groping through the swirl of snow. 
Sees the veil rent, and looks on Thacher's woe. 
Whispers a half-formed prayer beneath his breath 
And goes to meet those staring eyes of Death! 

Soft, tender eyes, the loving eyes of Homel 

The south-bound skipper, in the length'ning nights 

Sweeps the horizon line for Thacher's lights. 

No stars so welcome to him in the dome. 

As those twin-lights, the loving eyes of Home ! 



iXf 




HAWTHORNE INN AND ITS COTTAGES, EAST GLOUCESTER. 




OLD MOTHER ANN, EAST GLOUCESTER. 



MOTHER ANN 



u 



Before the gate of Gloucester 
Where spray and surges sweep, 
Upon the cliffs of granite 
A woman lies asleep. 

There has she lain in sliunber 
While countless seasons ran; 
A sphinx of endless ages 
Not carved or thought by man. 

In summer, briar roses, 
In autumn, golden-rod, 
With varied tints embroider 
Her couch— the scanty sod. 

She heeds not springtime's fragrance, 
She notes not summer's balm, 
But lies beside the ocean 
In an umuffled calm. 



Yet when November's storm-wind 
Begins its maddened chase 
She has a look of sorrow 
And tears are on her face. 

She dreams about her children, 
Out on the cruel deep, 
And 'mid the gale's wild howling. 
She murmurs in her sleep. 

Her sons, the sta\uich sea-rovers. 
How swift they homeward ride. 
Like children seeking safety 
Close to their mother's side. 

And in the morning sunlight 
All tempest-fears are gone. 
And Gloucester dreads no danger, 
While Mother Ann sleeps on. 



-J 




JXL 



AMATEUR FISHING vs. PROFESSIONAL. 



Tlio regular fisherman has bceti described fully 
enough by Kipling, Connolly and Mrs. Phelps-Ward. 
The opposite picture may show the style of schoon- 
er in which he carries on his work and the surround- 
ings of a "banker" — who has no connection with 
"Wall Street or State Street I 
Amateur deep-sea fishing is quite "another story." 
After repeated expeditions to the nearer fishing 
grounds I feel competent to advise piscatorial neo- 
phytes, especially since the average fisherman often 
misleads the average summer-boarder. The fish 
bite best in the early morning ; three o'clock a. m. 
is not too early in the day to set forth. 




The best bait is small mackerel, herring, alewives 
or squid; clams are a delusion for deep fishing. 

All fishers are misogynists; if you take the sum- 
mer girl fishing each codfish will result in shrieks; 
a sculpin will cause the lady who catches him to 
reach G in altissimo with ease; and the party will 
start three hours late. There is some masculine re- 
venge possible. For example, when you notice 
some fair damsel growing a greenish white you can 
ask her, " Why is your breakfast like a conundrum 
that cannot bo guessed? " or, if she is from the 
South, you can inquire whether Texans ever do 
really eat molasses with their pork! 



=xxr 





FlialllNu SlHCCNER on GEORGES. 



£)Q= 



^ 



There is one charm in Gloucester off-shore fish- 
ing; you never know what your line is likely to 
bring up. If you draw up something that feels as 
if you had caught an open umbrella at the bottom 
of the sea — that is a skate, which the fishermen 
throw away, although the best chef in Boston as- 
sured me that their fins are moi'e excellent than 
the best green turtle. If it is a fish that comes up 
blushing rosy red, it is a bream. On one fishing 
trip recently a sea-mouse was followed by a catfish, 
and this was succeeded by a dugfish; but a sea- 
lemon (a strange submarine ball) was not as appro- 



priately followed by any other ingredients for a 
sea-punch. 

The dogfish was of some interest, for he is the 
wolf of the sea; precisely like the shark in shape, 
he is much smaller, running fi'om one to about fif- 
teen pounds. He bites at anything. Sailors have 
told me of dogfish swallowing the cmders thrown 
overboard from the cook's galley with avidity, and 
let one of the pack be wounded never so slightly, 
his brethren at once devour him. As with wolves, 
a single one will not attack a man, but a swimmer, 
in a school of dogfish, would be eaten piecemeal. 



rJ 




THE WRECK OF THE HESPERUS. 



At n. meetiug of the Essex Institute and the Man- 
chester Historical Society held Aug. ISth, 1903, the 
following points regarding Longfellow's celebra- 
ted poem were discussed: 

Hon. Alden P. White of Salem read " The Wreck 
of the Hesperus," prefacing the reading with some 
remarks showing Longfellow's inception of the 
poem, which was first published in "The New 
World," a periodical published in New York and 
edited by Park Benjamin, the author being paid 
$2.5 for it. The origin of the writing of the ballad 
is shown by the following extracts from Longfel- 
low's diary: 



" December 17, 1839 — News of shipwTecks horri- 
ble on the coast. Twenty bodies washed ashore 
near Gloucester, one lashed to a piece of the WTeck. 
There is a reef called Norman's Woe, where many 
of them took place, among others the schooner 
Hesperus, also the Sea Flower on Black Rock. I 
must write a ballad upon.this, also upon two others, 
"The Skeleton in Armor," and "Sir Hmnphrey 
Davy." 

" December 30, 1839—1 wrote last evening a notice 
of Allston's poem, after which I sat till 12 by my 
fire smoking, when suddenly it came into my mind 
to write " The Ballad of the Schooner Hesperus," 



(J 




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-%-^ 







NORMAN'S WOE, MAGNOLIA. 



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which I accordingly did. Then I went to bed but 
not to sleep. Xew thoughts were running in my 
mind, and I got up to add them to the ballad. It 
was three by the clock. I then went to bed and 
fell asleep. I feel pleased with the ballad. It 
hardly cost me an effort. It did not come into my 
mind by lines, liut by stanzas." 

Regarding the claim that no such schooner as the 
Hesperus ever existed save in the poet's imagina- 
tiiin, Mr. White read extracts from tlie Gloucester 
records and the following report from the Boston 
Daily Advertiser of December 17, 1839, showing 
that the Hesperus was actually in the storm at Bos- 
ton, and that the body of a woman was washed 
ashore, lashed to a mast, at Gloucester, and from 
these facts the poem was constructed : 



"Further particulars of the gale.— The gale, of 
wliich we gave some account yesterday, continued 
up to midnight, when it suddenly lulled. During 
the last hour it seemed even more violent than at 
any previous time. To-day the wind has been high 
from about N. with snow. It is agreed on all hands 
that since the gale of September, 181C, we have not 
had in this <iuarter so severe a gale. 

" In our harbor (we learn in part from Jlessrs. 
Topliff's Reading Room) sch. Hesperus of Gardiner 
from Pittston at anchor in the stream, parted her 
chain, drove against ship William Badger of Ports- 
mouth, north side of Rowe's wharf, parted her fasts 
and both drove up across the dock their broadside 
to the sea; the schooner carried away her bowsjirit 
and stove her bow. Tlie ship had her side l)adly 



=i:)a 



chafed and the end of her jibboom stove in the up- 
per window of the four story brick store on Rowe's 
wharf. 

"From Gloucester we learn that of a large num- 
ber of coasting schooners and sloops which had put 
into Cape Ann hai'bor when the storm came on, 
and for tlie most part anchored in the outer liar- 
bor, twenty went ashore, and sixteen of tliat num- 
ber went to pieces, many lives were lost, as seven- 
teen bodies had already been taken up on the 
beach. One of these is i-eported to be a female who 
was lashed to the bitts of the windlass of a Castine 
schooner, two others of the crew also perished. 
Among the vessels on the beach were the Splendid 




of S— , lumber laden, and the Mary & Eliza of 
Belfast. 

"The place where most of these vessels struck 
was a reef of rocks called Norman's Woe, between 
which and the beach there was a strip of water, so 
tliat the chance of saving life by the unfortunate 
mariners driven upon them was very slight. There 
is another report from Gloucester that upwards of 
twenty more bodies had come ashore. The sea 
broke with such fury upon the beach that no boats 
could venture near the stranded vessels to save 
their crews. Of the crews of the vessels which 
went to pieces, a quarter part probably perished." 



(b- 




'*'^^^s?w*'^ 




SURF NEAR BRACES ROCK, EAST GEOUCESTER. 








BASS ROCKS. EAST GUOUuESTER, WITH J U Du E SHERMAN'S COTTAGE 







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A. 






GRANITE QUARRY AT ROCKPORT, 




''^^ftil-ilMlTfiitiltffl^ii'liiriiirrtriril 'ininri iiirii-|' 



LONG BEACH, ROCKPORT. 




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I 



PIGEON COVE AND SHORE. 




ANNISQUAM POINT AND BRIDGE, 



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WILLOW ROAD, RIVERDALE. 




MAGNOLIA POINT EAST , WITH B E A '_ H , HOTELS. ETC. 




SHORE VIEW FROM RAFE'5 CHASM, SHOWING MAGNOLIA POINT. 







'^ 




WINGAERSHEEK BEACH. WEST GLOUCESTER. 







■J - f* 






:^^<-y^ ^ ^w-^:::a-.^^m^^m 



\l\E.'^ FROM WILLOUGHBY PARK, WEST GLOUCESTER. 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



014 0^8 459 A 



